I forgot to mention something kind of funny that happened yesterday while I was at Media Play. I was browsing the largely denuded DVD racks, looking for anything that might be worth buying, when I spotted a little film that brought back a lot of memories, an obscure B-picture from the early ’90s called Robot Jox. (“Two men! Two machines! Too wild!”) I reached for it with one hand, while turning my head to speak to The Girlfriend. “Hey, honey,” I said, “Look at this. I ran this movie when I was a projectionist at Movies 9. It only played for a week or so, and I think I was the only person who ever actually watched it.”

Suddenly, a voice said, “Yes, I think you probably were.” It turned out the guy standing next to me with his arms full of clearance-priced DVDs was none other than my former movie-theater boss, Cal Gunderson. Small valley, eh? I still see Cal from time to time — he manages the Megaplex at Jordan Commons for local magnate Larry H. Miller now — but it’s been a while since our last encounter. I’ve been lucky enough to have had a number of good bosses over the years, managers who would go to bat for you when you need someone on your side, folks who are friends as well as supervisors and who know when to draw the line between the two, but Cal was one of the best I’ve known. Every time I see him, I feel like I ought to say more to him than I do, to thank him for something, although for what I’m never quite sure. I get the impression he doesn’t recall my name anymore, but I am greatly pleased that he still knows my face and recalls my somewhat questionable — or at the very least eclectic — taste in movies. After all, it’s been about fifteen years since I worked for him. But then he probably hasn’t had many employees who actually see, let alone kind of like, movies like Robot Jox.

I probably should’ve bought that DVD while I had it in my hand…